11 Plus Exams Forum

My DS wants to study chemistry, biology, maths and PE, will later drop PE, but now has the option of studying maths, but want to keep maths instead of physics. i am new to all this and would appreciate any advice given about the subject combinations.

Thanks

sorry tubby I'm a bit confused - can you just clarify what he is studying. Is it maths or physics at the mo?

opps sorry, he is studying chemistry maths biology and PE as 4th subject, but have the option of changing PE for Physics, but he wants to keep PE, i need advice about the combination i.e maths chemistry biology and PE as a 4th subject. Apologies if i am confusing you guys, he does not like essay writing

tubby wrote:opps sorry, he is studying chemistry maths biology and PE as 4th subject, but have the option of changing PE for Physics, but he wants to keep PE, i need advice about the combination i.e maths chemistry biology and PE as a 4th subject. Apologies if i am confusing you guys, he does not like essay writing

Depends what he wants to do at University really;

M + C + B is a good combination for many sciences partic biosciences ,
M + C + P is also good but poss more limited though would allow chem eng etc .
C + B + P is the old medical school combination and a bit of a slog particularly without the maths to help things out...
M+C+B+P - covers all bases but it sounds like he is interested in PE and perhaps would prefer to have some variety instead of all 4 sciences...

There's essay writing in PE ... much more than Physics!

What might he do at University? Even a vague idea would help.

Thanks Hermanmunster and Guest55, M+P+C+B seems the best, but yes he likes PE now that Guest55 has mentioned the writing will tell him, but he took PE for his GCSE. He wants to study medicine or chem Eng, but am telling him to have a Plan B, because they are quite competitive, you know with boys everything is yes or no . His Dad is a doctor and l have told him he should not feel he has to be one as well, l personally think he is a bit confused, but he told me just before school started that he is interested in chem Eng. God help me

A level PE is a bit different from GCSE - we (Maths teachers) were drafted in to teach the biomechanics stuff e.g. moments and levers etc.

Check the specification and look at past papers to check the amount of writing -

AQA http://www.aqa.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
EDEXCEL http://www.edexcel.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
OCR http://www.ocr.org.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If he is interested in chem eng then both cambridge and imperial want A level physics. Birmingham want a mechanics module in AS and A2 maths rather than statistics if you don't have physics A level. All the others seem quite happy with maths, chemistry and another science/other A level. My son did maths, chemistry, biology and geography at AS level and now seriously regrets not doing physics instead of geography. Good luck with the decision making.

Chemical engineering has increased in popularity recently, see http://www.whynotchemeng.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. The FAQs page suggests maths & Chemistry as essential, with either physics or biology. loulou has beaten me to it with more details!

PE is not usually given as much kudos as physics as an A level especially by the most competitive universities, although I know it has a lot of interesting content. The physics option certainly seems safer for keeping maximum options open - keeping sport going as an extra-curricular is also a good idea

l have just looked at the PE past questions and you are right Guest55 it involves quite a bit of essay writing, if he decides to do P,C,B and maths and later drops physics or maths where does that leave him with his option regarding uni,and would it not be hard going for him studying 4 tough subjects, PE we were thinking is a ''soft subject'' to ease the burden of the other one if it makes any sense

Oh dear thanks for all the replies